Posts tagged ‘mergers and acquisitions’

European steel’s current major M&A activity — driven by market recovery since mid-2017 — aims to achieve synergies and boost cost-effectiveness in a global steel sector still plagued by as much as 657 million mt of overcapacity, according to Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimates.

More mergers and acquisitions could be in store for the oil patch in 2018, experts say, boosted by oil prices at levels not seen in 30 months and a flurry of available acreage as companies focus on their very best plays.

But some are concerned that more acquisitions, especially in the US, could mean surging production on top of the record 10 million b/d of crude output that the US Energy Information Administration projects for next month, and 11 million b/d late in 2019.

Barely three weeks into the New Year, US upstream merger and acquisitions have sizzled as players in a charged-up industry, hungry to get moving after two-plus years of low oil prices and curbed activity, position not just for the up-cycle but the next decade or two.

Looking from afar, the crowds cramming into the Dalian Shangri-La Hotel lobby and conference hall during the 16th China International Steel & Iron Ore Conference on September 21-23 were no different from previous years in numbers, with many still preferring dark blue or black suits and dresses for the occasion.

Looking closely, though, there was nothing dark or gloomy about the atmosphere at the conference venue. Quite the contrary – people chitchatted with smiles and bursts of laughter.